Community Chat

[Jersey Born]

Sadly, the goal of most if not all industries is to replace as many workers as possible with machines. No wages, no health insurance, and no Worker's Compensation to be paid, either. Machine maintenance costs only.  Costco is also opening a couple of self-check-out lanes to their stores.  How long until every single lane is self-check-out?

Look up electronic Smart carts to see how very soon you will just scan and place items in your cart and your electronic Smart cart will tabulate the cost of your selected merchandise.  You can pay using the cart itself. No check out even needed.  Check out this article from Forbes regarding Kroger testing out Smart Carts.  You even get a 5% discount on all Kroger items you purchase if you agree to use these special carts that displace their workers.

"Kroger Is Testing A New Smart Cart That Lets Shoppers Skip The Checkout Line"

Machines and automation are the future.  People are considered replaceable and expendable by those who own these profitable chains and who want to make even higher profits than they do now. Employees will become worthless as the technology improves. The future isn't bright for humans.  That's for sure.

[arrabella]

---

@Desertdi wrote:

I don't believe you can sell liquor at a self checkout.........

---

I don't think so either.  If that was the case, any underage kid could buy booze.

[4kitties]

@arrabella 

I live in Illinois and yes alcohol can be purchased through self check out.  I have done it. It will not scan until an employee comes and gets a birth date, etc.  

[teganslaw]

Indiana you can buy liquor at a self checkout. The machine won't scan the item until you show your ID to a employee, who then enters the information. 

[Stray]

I don’t shop Walmart at all and I can’t even remember being in one. I started shopping at ACME during the pandemic and have had the same two checkout ladies since the lockdown started. We shop 6:00 am. Both ladies contracted Covid and are so dedicated and nice. We bonded with them so I’d hate to see them loose their jobs. One is raising her grandson. I have seen the self service expand and there is an attendant. I don’t use self service at the supermarket and we bag our own groceries anyway. I do use self service at CVS to avoid crowded lines. The writing is on the wall that there will be job losses and these people were out there working thru this whole mess. I think self service will be very difficult and slow for older and disabled customers

[Mominohio]

It honestly wouldn't surprise me if they were at least going to test market it.

I won't shop places that don't keep regular lanes open, because I usually buy a heaping cart load of groceries at a time, and every store here has changed over their self service areas to the tiny little bagging carousels and when that is full, each time you move a bag to continue to process your order, it locks you out and the employee has to come and unlock it for you. It senses by weight I think, and you mess it up when you remove a bag or item from the area. I think it is a loss prevention tool, but it makes it nearly impossible to process out a full cart of groceries or merchandise. 

I struggled with this several times, and I'm done with it. If they can't make self service checkouts that have full belt and big baging stations (which our Meijer did have, but pulled out a couple of years ago), I'm going somewhere that does. I'm not going to fight to checkout and spend hundreds of dollars. 

For small orders, I'm perfectly happy using self checkout.

[Mominohio]

---

@AngelPuppy1 wrote:

I hope it never goes to totally self checkouts.  I have used these in a lot of stores and find that I usually do o.k. but if I have really large orders, such as Walmart, I prefer to use  regular check-outs.  It is annoying and time consuming when items do not read correctly or there is an issue and then you have to wait for someone to come and help you.  I actually think the system that Aldi has is very good.  They are very fast at checking you out and then you just bag your own food items.  

---

@AngelPuppy1 

I love Aldi's checkout too. Very fast, never stand in line for more than two minutes, and I prefer to bag my own stuff, and do it how it suits my needs. I wish ever store went to that, self bagging.

[SandySparkles]

I seldom shop in-store, but do utilize their curbside pickup, and W+ delivery options. When I must shop in-store, I am sometimes overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people, and chaos that occasionally ensues at check out during peak hours or holiday shopping; long lines, price checks, disgruntled customers etc...😊

~~~All we need is LOVE💖

[patbz]

@arrabella : You can buy liquor/ beer in a self checkout line.  A buzzer goes off and a person checks your I.D. ( even if you are 77 like me).

[shoesnbags]

---

@ValuSkr wrote:

They might as well.  Walmart employees seem so unhappy.  Maybe they could also install kiosks that would help you find things in the store.

---

@ValuSkr 

If you download the Walmart ap on your phone, it recognizes which store you're in and tells you on which aisle an item can be found.  You just type in the name of the item.